Annual 'Ride of Silence' to be held Wednesday, days after bike courier Pablo Avendano's death

Philadelphia Police investigate the scene at 10th and Spring Garden Streets, where an SUV struck a bicyclist on Saturday night.

ELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer

An annual ride to remember cyclists who have been killed or injured by motorists will happen Wednesday, just days after a bike messenger's life ended abruptly when he was hit by a car at 10th and Spring Garden Streets.

The "Ride of Silence" is scheduled to begin at 6:45 p.m. at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and continue eight miles around the city. The route goes along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, past City Hall and Independence Hall, over the Walnut Street Bridge, and back to the Art Museum steps via the Spring Garden Street Bridge. The event is being held in Philly for its 14th consecutive year, according to its Facebook event page.

Sparrow Cycling, a separate courier company, remembered Avendano in an Instagram post, calling him "a teacher, an activist, a great rider, and a true friend to all of Sparrow, the messenger community, and Philly as a whole."

"He'd talk to you like you were the only person that mattered in that moment and was truly a special special person," the post read. "He will be very missed."